1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air-cooled absorption air-conditioner, and in particular to an air-cooled absorption air-conditioner equipped with simplified heat-exchanger elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Patent Application No. 60-179954 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-66068) discloses a relevant prior art device. The device consists of an air-cooled absorption hot/cold-water air-conditioner, which includes a circulation-water pump and a three-way valve provided on the outlet side of the circulation-water pump. One outlet of the three-way valve is connected to an evaporator, the other outlet thereof being connected to a water heater provided in a separator. Circulation-water pipes respectively connected to the outlets of the evaporator and the water heater join together and are connected to the place where hot/cold water is required.
During cooling operation, opening/closing valves provided in ducts are opened, and the three-way valve is operated in such a manner as to allow the circulation-water pump to communicate with the evaporator. The circulation water delivered by the circulation-water pump flows through the three-way valve and the evaporator, and flows to the place where cold water is required after being cooled by refrigerant vaporizing on the outer surface of the evaporator.
During heating operation, the opening/closing valves are closed, the three-way valve being operated in such a manner as to allow the circulation-water pump to communicate with the water heater. The circulation water delivered by the circulation-water pump is heated by the water heater before it flows to the place where hot water is required.
Thus, the above-described prior art device requires a water heater which constitutes the heat exchanger for generating hot water by affecting heat exchange between hot refrigerant vapor and circulation water, as well as an evaporator which constitutes the heat exchanger for generating cold water by taking the condensation heat of refrigerant vapor from circulation water. Besides, with this air-conditioner, it is necessary to switch the circulation routes between the cold-water generation and hot-water generation modes, so that a three-way valve having a large aperture has to be provided on the outlet side of the circulation-water pump.
It is an object of this invention to provide an air-cooled absorption air-conditioner whose structure is simplified by reducing the number of heat exchangers and in which the switching between the cooling and heating modes is simplified.